Consumers Need Much More than a Digital Application
All mortgage companies are looking for an end-to-end digital mortgage solution that will create a simplified customer experience, but most companies find themselves trying to navigate a sea of choices when it comes to LOS, POS, CRM and technology solutions requiring integrations that cost considerable time and money.
What would an ideal mortech solution look like? Likely, it would tackle many of the most important questions that mortgage executives are asking right now.
How are customers saving for their home and understanding their credit score?
This is where banks have an advantage. By having the data about savings accounts or creating a goal-centered savings plan specifically for the homebuyer, accessible account management is key. If the buyer has an incentive — like owning a home — with a personalized or gamified guide to planning their finances to achieve the goal, that could be a big win.
So too it is with credit scoring websites. While there are many advantages to knowing your score, information about raising the credit is incredibly valuable for a mortgage company to provide.
If a mortgage company knows the goal, how can it manage the expectations of the buyer before pre-approval?
When properly built, a consumer-facing portal should provide everything a potential homebuyer would need to make educated decisions about their finances. That would include any information about their current mortgage, such as payment, amortization schedule and current payoff amount. Additionally, a real-time refinance calculation would be incredibly valuable.
If their savings and checking accounts (along with their overall financial portfolio, if possible) are displayed along with the goals listed above, and calculations of possible mortgage scenarios are offered, that could be a game-changer. Real-time rates and loan scenarios with calculations of payment would be a win as well.
For first-time homebuyers, this is the perfect place for education about how to buy a home. Home-readiness quizzes, videos, a chat-with-an-expert button and a chatbot built to intelligently offer up typical FAQs would allow for opting in to learn more at their own pace.
The ability to ask questions if they so desire is going to be important. Consumers want to move at their own pace and explore their options on their own time but having calls to action for immediate pre-approvals or scheduling an online video chat with an LO is key. Instant access to most banking data should make this an easy review.
How do you streamline and simplify the mortgage application?
Many POS solutions are offering easier than ever application processes for the buyer. Using guided application windows with one task at a time, these solutions could be personalized to specific buyers based on the data already collected.
Co-borrowers or other interested parties should have access to the portal, but the customer should be able to choose the content that is visible.
How do you streamline the loan process?
Automated and gamified “homework” lists are invaluable. With credit score, financial accounts and background of the customer already available, tasks such as tax returns should be easy to upload via mobile phone. Of critical importance are ease of uploading needed documents and storage of those documents for future purchases and refinances.
The customer should then have an easy tracking solution for the loan as it passes through the mortgage stages, and the customer should be pinged at their specified communication choice if more is needed.
Disclosures should be easily downloaded and e-signed, and e-closing should be available.
Pieces and parts of the solution are available now but tying them together into a cohesive mortech solution is just one of the ways that Intent is helping mortgage companies envision the future of lending.
What the Restaurant Business Teaches About the Mortgage Business
Restaurants live or die by their reviews. Whether that’s a splashy spread in the newspaper, inviting influencers and bloggers to join them for a meal or simply through digital channels like Yelp and on Google. A bad review can stop a potential diner their quest for a great meal at a restaurant while a positive review can reassure their decision and often even provide advice about where to sit and what to order.
So too it is with the mortgage experience. While it is critically important to be found through reviews, the experience is the first piece to get right. Let’s use the restaurant set up as an analogy.
- People need to find you. Whether through recommendations from friends or family or through their agent, having good word-of-mouth advertising is going to be important.
- Reservations need to be easy. Applying for their loan should be simple and done right from their phone.
- Have the best host to greet them. They should never feel alone. Your marketing should greet them promptly and show them the exact steps needed.
- The server should be on point.The mortgage professional needs to be the guide to the whole experience. A server makes or breaks the entire thing. Walk them through the menu slowly and thoroughly. Make sure they know that you are going to focus on their needs and answer any questions that they have, even when there are other people waiting for your attention.
- Back of the house needs to know what the front of the house is doing.The kitchen needs to be ready for whatever comes their way. From special orders to dietary restrictions, making the perfect meal is critical. Your LOA and your ops team should work in harmony. Expectations of timelines should be met and introductions to the Chef should be made to ensure the best meal.
- The manager should stop by the table.Never, never take your eye off the ball. Even when your team is doing an exceptional job, be there to check in.
- Check in, check in, check in.Ask how everything is. Anticipate their needs before they ask. Give them space while making sure they are happy.
- Explain the check.Always review with them the numbers so they fully comprehend what the total is and have the opportunity to ask questions.
- THANK THEM.Over and over again. Make them feel that they are truly appreciated and that you were honored to be part of their lives.
- Get 5 Stars.Know when and where to ask them to leave reviews so that the next time someone is looking, they find you.
Some of the best loan officers in the industry started out as very savvy servers in their youth. The ability to manage multiple tables, many orders and chaos makes for an outstanding mortgage professional. Intent can help make your daily routine much easier with simplified strategies to grow your business.
Outsourcing Mortgage Marketing and Technology
All marketing departments have the best of intentions for allowing their loan originators to use personalized marketing. However, the steady demand for fliers and other requests can keep loan officers from focusing on some of the bigger strategies and goals required by their company to build business.
Luckily, marketing can be easily outsourced because companies such as Intent truly understand mortgage marketing and will analyze current strategies and technology stacks as well as examine brand awareness to create a true plan for growth.
Intent — at the enterprise level — studies common practices and processes, consults with marketing and IT groups for input and expertise, automates best intentions, and creates a fantastic solution that is as effective as it is streamlined. This solution is also simple to use and adaptable for growth and emerging technologies.
Intent’s process:
- Assess technologies being utilized within the organization
- Poll and interview leaders to see what current technologies are valuable and used
- Construct framework for a branded end-to-end solution
- Suggest architecture for a best-in-class solution
- Build custom automations, workflows, reporting and oversight
- Create marketing content and graphics to merge messaging across platforms
- Generate lead funnels and scoring, according to needs
- Produce websites, landing pages, Facebook ads, Google ads, retargeting platforms and SEO
- Integrate all digital marketing components
- Review compliance and security
- Test and deploy a system
- Train all employees
Whether you are a broker shop that needs a brand, a voice, a website and a strategy for growth, or you are a mortgage company looking to cut costs by outsourcing your mortgage marketing, Intent can create a custom plan that will make you successful.
Mortgage Technology Integrations
A new technology emerges seemingly every day in the mortgage industry that promises to deliver an incredible, industry-disrupting, holy grail system ready to transform the way business is done. Such novelties are wonderful — as long as the loan officer or mortgage broker takes the time to master the technology. And as long as the technology is supported by experts who can integrate it seamlessly into the customer journey and — lest we forget — create the content and customer messaging that allow that technology to be an intracule part of the loan process.
Let’s look at some of the main pieces of the puzzle:
Lead Generation Problems –Lead Gen sources overpromise the quality of leads, underwhelm (for the most part) on the delivery and then wait for the LO to act.
Lead Generation Solutions –Find real, actionable leads with a professional company that delivers legal and warm leads integrated with a follow-up strategy for each lead.
CRM Problems – Become a marketing and tech expert without compliance oversight and build your own adventure.
CRM Solutions –Take advantage of plug-and-play marketing, opportunities delivered directly, and a game plan and strategy for each buyer with mapped out customer journeys.
POS Problems –Learn a new technology and deliver promised results that make their fee worth leaving Encompass behind.
POS Solutions – Use out-of-the-box, easy-to-understand platforms with a small learning curve that makes the customer application process simple.
At Intent, we understand that lenders of the future will rely on piecing together data from a variety of sources that will give lenders a clear picture of their mortgage applicants and help them know and understand buyers’ goals in the timeframe that works for buyers’ needs and creates a specific path to homeownership for each applicant. Having the pieces integrate to make this happen isn’t easy. But that’s where Intent comes in.
Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out
As the largest professional network in the world, LinkedIn is undoubtedly the most effective social media platform at helping professionals become and stay connected. LinkedIn helps users get their name in front of countless professionals in their industry as well as those in other industries. But with so many LinkedIn users worldwide, how do you make your profile stand out from the rest? It’s a good idea to make sure it has all of the following:
A Profile Picture– A photo humanizes your profile and provides your connections a visual to “put a face to a name.” Additionally, studies have shown that profiles with photos receive 21 times more views than profiles that don’t include a photo.
A Summary– A summary is an important piece of a profile, but it is often missing. A good summary shows how you present yourself as a professional and says not only what you do, but what drives you to do it. Click hereto learn how to write a great LinkedIn summary.
A Custom Headline– Make your headline memorable. While it is quite common for users to use their job title in their headline, consider spicing it up a bit. Your headline is the “so what?” of sorts to your profile, as it explains what you can do for your connections. Learn more about LinkedIn headlines, here.
Your History– Ensure that your employment history and educational history are complete and up to date. This will make you 18 times more likely to be found in a search!
Updated Information– Always keep your contact information updated on your LinkedIn profile. This info is only viewable by your connections.
In addition to all this, try to give your LinkedIn profile some “personality.” Add a background image featuring something that captures your interests and include any volunteer organizations or clubs that you are involved in outside of your job.
For more information about how to make your LinkedIn profile stand out, click here.
Solidifi: Helping Shape the Residential Lending Space
An independent provider of valuation and closing services supporting the residential real estate mortgage industry, Solidifi oversees a technology-based marketplace where independent field professionals consistently elevate their performance and deliver better results while competing for business. Having partnered with tens of thousands of qualified independent field professionals, Solidifi bills itself as the preferred mortgage service provider for more than 60 of the top 100 lenders in 2019.
From the corporate headquarters in Buffalo, New York along with offices in Denver, Colorado, Middletown, Rhode Island and Greenwood Village, Colorado, the people of Solidifi work together to optimize technology that will boost productivity both internally and for all clients. Consisting of mortgage industry specialists and technology innovators, Solifi has invested millions of dollars in its flagship product — a SaaS-based platform supported by a team of technology professionals.
Solidifi’s overall product offerings can be broken down into four categories: valuation services, flood services, title services, and closing & escrow services. Solidifi’s valuation services include but are not limited to traditional appraisal products, inspection solutions, broker price opinions and home equity solutions.\n\nThe company’s flood resources are centered around delivering accurate and timely flood determinations, along with life-of-loan monitoring.\n\nOn the title services side, Solidifi offers highly efficient solutions for nationwide title insurance. More specifically, the company provides title and closing services for refinance, purchase, commercial, short sale and REO transactions. Meanwhile, Soldifi’s closing & escrow services are centered around an expedited process aimed at increasing performance for the company’s clients and handling all aspects of the closing and escrow transaction on time, with ease. The end result is swift turn times, extraordinary due diligence reviews, and accurate execution and disbursements of documents.
Solidifi’s parent company, Real Matters, was established in 2004 and has since morphed into one of North America’s fastest growing, innovative technology companies. Real Matters combines proprietary technology and network management tools with thousands of independent qualified field professionals to form a marketplace for mortgage lending and insurance industry services. These field professionals, such as residential real estate appraisers, compete to deliver performance-driven services. To learn more about Solidifi, click here.
RCM Helps Get The Most Out of Mortgage Insurance
Easily and perhaps often misunderstood, mortgage insurance is just another layer of security to shield lenders against a loss and is generally only required if a borrower puts down less than 20% on a property. If you are a mortgage servicer filing for insurance claims, navigating insurance policies can be overwhelming and time-consuming, especially if you want to get every dollar possible through the claims process.
When considering the potential pitfalls that can lead to the curtailment or even denial of coverage, your best bet sometimes is to entrust the task to a hazard claims provider who can help you recover as much as possible. Rutledge Claims Management specializes in filing and adjusting hazard claims, including mortgage insurance claims. Formerly known as The Law Offices of Thomas W. Rutledge, APC, the Poway, California-based company rebranded in 2017 as RCM and reorganized as a licensed public adjuster firm. The business says it has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for its clients over the past two decades.
RCM offers claims management, dispute resolution, negotiations, regulatory compliance and litigation monitoring. Other services include mortgage insurance claim appeals; integration of hazard claims workflow and the repair process to accelerate claim recoveries; tracking claim milestones and daily data feed to clients through proprietary claims tracking software; and customized reporting to clients on over 700 fields of data.
RCM takes pride in its legal background and experience in monitoring timelines and tracking statutes of limitations — all in an effort to ensure a fast and effective claims resolution. Click here to learn more.
*Intent does not endorse or recommend any particular products or services. The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only.
Equifax Launches Lead Generation Tool for Mortgage Lenders
Major credit bureau Equifax has introduced a lead generation tool for the mortgage industry. Thanks to its Mortgage Lead Generation Models, Equifax can now help users predict the probability of a lead converting to a sale within the first two to six months. Equifax believes this will allow mortgage lenders to better target their mortgage marketing campaigns because lenders will have the ability to identify borrowers early in the home buying process and retain them.
Rather than relying on reactive methods to acquire and retain customers, Mortgage Lead Generation Models proactively identify and target prospects early in the mortgage journey through methods such as segmented customer marketing and the prioritization of quality leads.
Mortgage Lead Generation Models use information such as a prospective lead’s credit history, wealth assets and demographics to classify the lead as a likely new home purchase, first-time home purchase, refinance or HELOC. The system then rates the lead from 1 to 999, with leads who boast higher scores being more likely to turn into a sale. To read more about Mortgage Lead Generation Models, click here or here.”
Intent Employee Spotlight – Tim Chew
Tim Chew, affectionately known around the office as “Chewy,” is the Chief Technology Officer at Intent Homebuying Marketing Intelligence. Tim spends his days immersed in the technology side of the company, building systems and guiding our team. Learn a little bit about Tim today!
Start Date: 2/25/19
Brief overview of what you do: All things technology and the occasional handyman task
What brought you to Intent: The Millennium Falcon
What do you like most about working at Intent: The energy
Hometown: Kashyyyk
Hobbies: Gardening and building things
Book you’ve read over and over again: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Top 3 movies: Hero (2002), About a Boy, We’re the Millers
A bit about your family: 4 children
Favorite food: Sweets
Thing you’re scared of: My children
Dream vacation: Dogsledding and kayaking in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland
Favorite cocktail: Flavored Vodka Tonic
UltraFICO Score Offers Broader Credit Scoring Capabilities
When you apply for a mortgage loan, a lender will typically run a credit report in short order. From the credit report, the lender will most likely look to your FICO® score. FICO® is a scoring system used by the three major credit bureaus to determine your eligibility for the loan you are seeking. For decades, credit scores have been largely based on a person’s past dealings with banks and other financial institutions.
However, if you have never taken out a loan or owned a credit card, or you are just starting to build your credit, lack of credit may also affect your ability to be approved for a loan. With the aforementioned considerations in mind, FICO® recently debuted a new opt-in scoring system known as the “UltraFICO™ Score.” By linking their checking account, savings account or money market accounts with FICO®, users have the opportunity to build credit based on the data they share. When determining whether an applicant poses a credit risk, lenders now have the opportunity to consider — along with more traditional categories — evidence from savings, account balances, bank account history and any other transactions.
UltraFICO™ Score is especially helpful for both younger consumers with little credit history and those who’ve previously dealt with low credit scores. If you already have good credit and a well-established credit history, it is unlikely you will see a significant boost from an UltraFICO™ Score. According to FICO®, seven out of 10 consumers with average savings of $400 and without negative balances in the past three months see an increase in their FICO® Score with the new system.
The announcement of broader scoring modalities comes on the heels of a comprehensive effort to expand access to credit. Late last year, Experian rolled out Experian Boost, a new tool that enables consumers to incorporate utility and cell phone payments into their credit history and potentially increase their FICO® Score instantly. To learn more how you can benefit from these latest credit models, click here and here.
